Exam question 3 · Too many details, too few

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an unsupported assertion that «scientists have proved» a claim?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, prove · To what, where: unsupported assertion

This is exam question 3 of lesson 450 «Too many details, too few» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 assertion	det
10	unsupported	unsupported	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 assertion	amod
11	assertion	assertion	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 proved	nsubj:pass
13	«	«	PUNCT	_	16 proved	punct
14	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 proved	nsubj
15	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 proved	aux
16	proved	prove	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 assertion	acl:relcl
17	»	»	PUNCT	_	16 proved	punct
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 claim	det
19	claim	claim	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 proved	obj
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	a unsupported assertion	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	prove in a quote	present · perfect · passive	a unsupported assertion		vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Theme claim=Attribute

One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

It constitutes conclusive scientific evidence

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 constitutes	nsubj
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	conclusive	conclusive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 evidence	amod
4	scientific	scientific	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 evidence	amod
5	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	It	conclusive scientific evidence					vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme evidence=Pivot

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It lacks a stated source and should be treated with caution

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 lacks	nsubj
2	lacks	lack	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 source	det
4	stated	state	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 source	amod
5	source	source	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 lacks	obj
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 treated	cc
7	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 treated	aux
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 treated	aux:pass
9	treated	treat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 lacks	conj
10	with	with	ADP	_	11 caution	case
11	caution	caution	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 treated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	lack	present	It	a stated source		tree rules
2	state speech: other	participle				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
3	treat	should · passive			with caution	vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP»: with caution=Theme

Option 3

It is verified by its manner of presentation

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 verified	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 verified	aux:pass
3	verified	verify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 manner	case
5	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 manner	nmod:poss
6	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 verified	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 presentation	case
8	presentation	presentation	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 manner	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	verify	present · passive	its manner of presentation	It					vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot subject=Topic

Option 4

It is necessarily false

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 false	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 false	cop
3	necessarily	necessarily	ADV	_	4 false	advmod
4	false	false	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	It					false, necessarily property	tree rules

Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/450-too-many-details-too-few/e3/